¹⁄350

Le Richelieu, September 1943.

The Warf…

All the detail on the wharf was scratchbuilt.

The wharf was made out of balsa wood covered with a fine layer of clay using a rolling pin to flatten it….railway, crane rail lines were then engraved. The jibs, the harbor lights, the crane and other embellishments were all scratchbuilt from photo etch left over’s, plastic card and rods. Air gun pellets were used for bollards. The front overlooking the sea was covered in engraved plastic card to represent a wooden support structure. Rubber washers were used to cushion the ship’s hull against the wharf.

The port cargo ship, barges and boats in the seascape were all scratchbuilt. The buildings were scratchbuilt using a combination of plastic card, tinlets of paint, soldering wire and bits and pieces from photoetch spares box. I had to be very careful to keep the scale accurate. The train engines as well as the rolling stock were all scratchbuilt. The trucks and other vehicles all came from conversions from one type of LArsenal 1/350 scale US truck . Again a mixture of Fujimi and L’Arsenal Figures were used.

I must thank Messrs Sebastien Lausdat, Claudio Matteini who provided me with all the correct and accurate material required to make this project as faithful as possible to this beautiful ship and without whose help I wouldn’t have completed this project.